Alessandro Borgia
Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
In office
February 27, 1865 – January 13, 1872
Preceded byFilippo di Colloredo-Mels
Succeeded byGiovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce
Personal details
BornOctober 30, 1783
Velletri
DiedJanuary 13, 1872
Rome
NationalityItalian

Fra' Alessandro Ponziano Borgia (October 30, 1783, Velletri, Papal States – January 13, 1872, Rome) was the leader of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as Lieutenant of the Grand Master from 1865 to 1872.

Borgia was a younger son of Cavaliere Giampaolo Borgia, a member of a branch of the Borgia family from the city of Velletri who were distantly related to Pope Alexander VI.[1] His mother was Countess Alcmena Baglioni-Malatesta, descended from the Baglioni family which formerly ruled the city of Perugia.[1] His father's younger brother was Cardinal Stefano Borgia.[2] His older brother Cesare was also a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.[3] His nephew Ettore Borgia was an Italian politician.[1]

Borgia became a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as a minor on February 18, 1787.[3] He made his solemn profession as a Knight of Justice in 1802.[4] In 1818 he took up residence at the Order's headquarters (called the "Convent") in Catania where he served as Procurator of the Langue of Italy.[4] In 1824 he and the Order's other senior knights moved to Ferrara where he served as a member of the Council.[4] In 1834 he was responsible for the transfer of the Order's archives and other property from Ferrara to Rome.[4] Under the Lieutenant Carlo Candida he was promoted to the rank of Venerable Bailiff Knight Grand Cross.[4]

A day after the death of the Lieutenant of the Grand Master Fra' Filippo di Colloredo-Mels on October 9, 1864, Borgia received a letter from the Cardinal Secretary of State Giacomo Antonelli authorizing him to act as Lieutenant ad interim.[4] He was elected Lieutenant of the Grand Master on February 27, 1865.[4] His election was confirmed by Pope Pius IX in an apostolic letter of March 10, 1865.[5]

Borgia died at the Palazzo Malta in Rome in 1872. He was succeeded as Lieutenant of the Grand Master by Fra' Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Frederick Rolfe, The History of the Borgias (New York: Modern Library, 1931), 405-406.
  2. ↑ Rolfe, The History of the Borgias, 383.
  3. 1 2 Elenco dei Cavalieri del S. M. Ordine di S. Giovanni di Gerusalemme Ricevuti nella Veneranda Lingua d'Italia dalla Fondazione dell'Ordine ai Nostri Giorni, compilato da Francesco Bonazzi di Sannicnandro (Napoli: Libreria Detken & Rocholi, 1907), II, 23.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Francesco Giuseppe Terrinoni, Memorie storiche della resa di Malta ai francesi nel 1798 e del S.M. ordine Gerosolimitano dal detto anno ai nostri giorni (Roma: Tip. delle Belle Arti, 1867), 82-83.
  5. ↑ Latin text reprinted in Terrinoni, Memorie storiche, 203-204.
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